How to Train As an Athlete in Your 30s

As athletes age, their needs for activity and nutrition change. While teenagers or college athletes can spend hours each day in the gym, older athletes rarely have as much time to build strength, improve speed and stay in shape.

With a few key changes, you can keep your body in shape and continue working toward your athletic goals. To keep training in your 30s, you should:

Change Up Your Nutrition

With less time in the gym, your body burns fewer calories. You’ll need to scale back your diet while keeping it packed full of important nutrients. On days you don’t train, you should scale back how many simple carbohydrates, like sugar and refined grains, you eat. You’ll also want to avoid fried foods that pack on calories and can have negative effects on an older digestive system.

A healthy diet, combined with your active lifestyle, can also go a long way in improving your longevity and increasing your risk for heart disease.

Try Interval Training

Even as an athlete, your cardiovascular health starts declining in your 30s. You can improve your heart’s ability to handle aerobic exercise by performing interval training. The change between fast-paced exercise and slower exercise can help your heart muscle stay fit even with age.

Stretch It Out

As you age, your muscle and connective tissue becomes less flexible than when you were younger. During your day job and regular workouts, you likely don’t push your range of motion, which can limit your flexibility.

Exercise such as yoga can help you maintain flexibility and even increase it over time. Flexibility can help you avoid injuries as you age.

Increase Strength Training

Muscle mass begins to slowly decline by your late 30s. If strength training is not a regular part of your workout regime, you’ll need to add it in or increase your time spent building muscle. These extra workouts can help prevent muscle loss with age, keeping you in shape and helping prevent future injury.

Bon Secours In Motion Sports Performance Specialists use specially designed adult performance programs to condense workouts and help adult athletes get all the exercise they need in less time. With personalized nutrition advice and monthly recovery massages, we provide comprehensive support for athletes of all ages.